* In the manga, Lance and the [[Elite Four]]'s motivations are similar to the plans of [[N]] and [[Team Plasma]]. Both pretend to summon a legendary Pokémon ({{p|Lugia}} or {{p|Reshiram}} and {{p|Zekrom}} respectively) in order to create an utopia for Pokémon.

* In the manga, Lance and the [[Elite Four]]'s motivations are similar to the plans of [[N]] and [[Team Plasma]]. Both pretend to summon a legendary Pokémon ({{p|Lugia}} or {{p|Reshiram}} and {{p|Zekrom}} respectively) in order to create an utopia for Pokémon.

In the games

In Generation I and the Generation III remakes, Lance is the fourth and final member of the Elite Four. He must be defeated before facing Blue, the Pokémon League Champion. By the Generation II games, he has proceeded to become Pokémon League Champion, due to Red going to Mt. Silver to train and leaving him his charge as Champion.
He raises Dragon-type Pokémon, which are both hard to catch and raise. He prefers the superiority of Dragon-type Pokémon, believing them to be virtually indestructible.

Known as a cool and heroic Trainer, Lance has a large fan-following. Lance also seems to have a liking for capes, as he is often seen buying identical capes at the Celadon Department Store.

Lance's grandfather is the elder of a famous clan of Dragon Masters. Clair is his cousin, and his hometown is Blackthorn City.

In Generation II and their remakes, the player first encounters Lance at the Lake of Rage where he watches the player battle the red Gyarados.
Lance also appeared in Mahogany Town to help the player fight Team Rocket in Johto. Lance rewards the player with the Whirlpool HM for helping him put an end to Team Rocket's sinister plans.

In Pokémon Stadium 2, Lance is the Champion, who is fought at the end of the Elite Four. As the player must use the same Pokémon that he or she used against the Elite Four, Lance is extremely difficult to defeat with Rental Pokémon, but not impossible (due to the element of chance). Once Lance is defeated, the player can battle any Gym Leaders in the Kanto region at any time.

Quotes

Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow

Before battle

"Ah! I heard about you, <player>! I lead the Elite Four! You can call me Lance the dragon trainer! You know that dragons are mythical Pokémon! They’re hard to catch and raise, but their powers are superior! They’re virtually indestructible! Well, are you ready to lose? Your League challenge ends with me, <player>!"

When defeated

"That’s it! I hate to admit it, but you are a Pokémon master!"

After being defeated

"I still can’t believe my dragons lost to you, <player>! You’re now the Pokémon League champion! …Or, you would have been, but you have one more challenge ahead. You have to face another trainer! His name is… <rival>! He beat the Elite Four before you. He is the real Pokémon League champion!"

Pokémon Gold, Silver, Crystal

"This lake is full of Gyarados but nothing else… So the Magikarp are being forced to evolve… Did you come here because of the rumors? You're <player>? I'm Lance, a trainer like you. I heard some rumors, so I came to investigate… I saw the way you battled earlier, <player>. I can tell that you're a trainer with considerable skill. If you don't mind, could you help me investigate?"

If answered yes

"Excellent! It seems that the Lake's Magikarp are being forced to evolve. A mysterious radio broadcast coming from Mahogany is the cause. I'll be waiting for you, <player>.

B2F

"Are you all right? Your Pokémon are hurt and tired. Here, give them some of my medicine. <player>, let's give it our best for Pokémon."

After entering the generator room

"Hey! Don't be so selfish. Spread the fun around."'

"That did it. We defeated all the Rockets here. But I'm concerned about the young guy I battled in the process… Sorry, <player>. I saw how well you were doing, so I just hung back. Now all there is left to do is to turn off that odd radio signal. It's this machine that's causing all the problems. I don't see a switch on it… We have no choice. We have to make all the Electrode faint. That should stop this machine from transmitting that strange signal. It's no fault of the Pokémon, so it makes me feel guilty. <player>, let's split the job."

If player tries to leave his side

"Leave this side to me."

After defeating all Electrode

"That odd signal has finally stopped. The Lake should be back to normal. You're the hero! Let me thank you on behalf of all the Pokémon. Oh, yes. You should take this. I found it here, but I don't have any need for it. That's Whirlpool. Teach it to a Pokémon to get across wild water. But keep this in mind. You can use that out of battle only with the Badge from Mahogany Gym. <player>… The journey to becoming the Pokémon Master is long and difficult. Knowing that, will you keep going? … I see. No, you're right. If you would give up that easily, you would have never chased that dream in the first place. I look forward to seeing you again!"

B3F

"It takes two password to get into the boss's quarters. Those passwords are known only to a few Rockets. That Rocket there very graciously told me so. <player>, let's go get the passwords."

"I’ve been waiting for you. <Player>! I knew that you, with your skills, would eventually reach me here. There’s no need for words now. We will battle to determine who is the stronger of the two of us. As the most powerful trainer and as the Pokémon League Champion… I, Lance the dragon master, accept your challenge!"

When defeated

"…It’s over. But it’s an odd feeling. I’m not angry that I lost. In fact, I feel happy. Happy that I witnessed the rise of a great new Champion!"

After being defeated

"…Whew. You have become truly powerful, <player>. Your Pokémon have responded to your strong and upstanding nature. As a trainer, you will continue to grow strong with your Pokémon."

"This is getting to be a bit too noisy… <Player>, could you come with me?"

"It's been a long time since I last came here. This is where we honor the League Champions for all eternity. Their courageous Pokémon are also inducted. Here today, we witnessed the rise of a new League Champion--a trainer who feels compassion for, and trust toward, all Pokémon. A trainer who succeeded through perseverance and determination. The new League Champion who has all the makings of greatness! <Player>, allow me to register you and your partners as Champions!

Pokémon Stadium 2

"It looks like even the Elite Four couldn't stop you. I'm your last opponent in the Johto Castle!""I am still the Champion. I won't hold anything back.""I've been waiting for you. Allow me to test your skill.""Hyper Beam!""It's all over!""Dragonite for the win!""That's it. Come back!""Ow, bad news!""I concede defeat. You might have what it takes to prevail over Kanto's Gym Leaders."

Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen

Before battle

"Ah! I've heard about you, <player>/So, you've returned, <player>! I lead the Elite Four. You can call me Lance the dragon Trainer. You know that dragons are mythical Pokémon. They’re hard to catch and raise, but their powers are superior. They’re virtually indestructible. There's no being clever with them. Well, are you ready to lose? Your League challenge ends with me, <player>!"

When defeated

"That’s it! I hate to admit it, but you are a Pokémon master!"

After being defeated

"I still can’t believe my dragons lost to you, <player>. You are now the Pokémon League Champion! …Or, you would have been, but you have one more challenge left. There is one more Trainer to face! His name is… <rival>! He beat the Elite Four before you. He is the real Pokémon League Champion."

Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver

"I’ve been waiting for you. <Player>! I knew that you, with your skills, would eventually reach me here. There’s no need for words now. We will battle to determine who is the stronger of the two of us. As the most powerful Trainer and as the Pokémon League Champion… I, Lance the dragon master, accept your challenge!"

After sending out last Pokémon

"All right! I thought this would never happen!"

When last Pokémon is at critical health

"I never give up, no matter what. You must be the same?"

When defeated

"…It’s over. But it’s an odd feeling. I’m not angry that I lost. In fact, I feel happy. Happy that I witnessed the rise of a great new Champion!"

After being defeated

"…Whew. You have become truly powerful, <player>. Your Pokémon have responded to your strong and upstanding nature. As a Trainer, you will continue to grow strong with your Pokémon."

"This is getting to be a bit too noisy… <Player>, could you come with me?"

"It's been a long time since I last came here. This is where we commemorate the League Champion for all eternity. Their courageous Pokémon are also inducted. Here today, we witnessed the rise of a new League Champion--a Trainer who feels compassion for, and trust toward, all Pokémon. A trainer who succeeded through perseverance and determination. The new League Champion who has all the makings of greatness! <Player>, allow me to register you and your partners as Champions!

Team Rocket was trying to investigate the properties of a Red Gyarados so that they could learn how to force Pokémon to evolve. Lance was able to destroy Team Rocket's machine and blow up their laboratory. Lance also battled against Tyson and his two Fearow. Despite being an elite member of Team Rocket, his Fearow were no match for Lance's Dragonite.

Ash was able to calm the Red Gyarados at first, but it continued to go berserk. Finally, Lance caught it to keep it from destroying Mahogany Town. Before leaving, Lance promised Ash that he would take care of Gyarados.

Lance later appeared again in Gaining Groudon and The Scuffle of Legends, where he helped stop the rampage of Kyogre and Groudon. Lance infiltrated Team Magma's submarine and confronted Shelly, who suspected that he isn't really a Team Magma Grunt. Shortly after, he freed Ash, who had been captured after Pikachu absorbed the Red Orb that controls Groudon. Lance’s Pokémon are later sent into battle to help try to calm the two feuding legendary Pokémon.

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Lance is primarily a villain in Pokémon Adventures. As the leader of the Elite Four, he wishes to exterminate the human race, save for a few people who he deems to be kind enough to Pokémon. Apparently also from Viridian Forest, Lance was blessed with the powers of the Viridian Forest as Yellow was. He has the power to telepathically communicate with Pokémon, as well as heal their wounds. Lance also has the ability to control or brainwash any Dragon-type Pokémon, as well as most Pokémon similar to Dragons (such as Aerodactyl or Tyranitar).

He first appears at Vermilion before the start of the Vermilion City Surfing Competition. The Dragonair that was to be offered as a prize to the winner was actually his. He then attacked Vermilion City and destroyed it, saying he was looking for something. When Yellow came after him he tried to capture Pika to please Agatha and Lorelei but once Pikachu learned Surf he too failed. Before the battle could continue, he mysteriously disappeared.

He next appeared on Cerise Island battling Blaine and Yellow. When Blaine released Mewtwo Blaine and Yellow were able to gain the upper hand against Lance's Aerodactyl and his two Dragonair. However, due to Blaine's link with Mewtwo they could only battle together for about three minutes and with time running out Blaine decided to target Lance's Poké Balls so he couldn't call out any other Pokémon and would have to battle with his weakened Pokémon that were already out. He succeeded in destroying the balls only for Blaine to be knocked unconscious due to Mewtwo's time out being run too long. Lance then chuckled to himself, revealing that he had called his Pokémon out of their balls before the battle even began.

Lance during the HGSS chapter

During Lance's battle with Yellow both of them were equally matched, Lance luring the battle out onto the top of Cerise Island, a volcano. Lance then once again gained the upper hand by having his Gyarados and Dragonair make green, red, and blue bubbles so they could not be detected in sunlight. Just when it seemed when Yellow was about to lose, Giovanni arrived and helped subdue Lance, using his Rhyhorn to create a sandstorm to make the bubbles visible. But this capturing only proved to be part of his plan, as he needed Giovanni's Badge since it was the last Badge he needed for the Badge Energy Amplifier to summon Lugia, so he lured Giovanni to the middle of the island so the Earth Badge would be automatically ripped from him and the Amplifier would automatically activate, summoning Lugia. Lance wanted Lugia to help accomplish his goals, but Yellow's Pokémon were able to drive Lugia away once they evolved and Yellow was able to channel their power into Pika's Megavolt. This interested Lance, as he wanted to find out who Lugia's real owner was. It wasn't often that he lost control of dragon-like Pokémon.

Lance disappeared for a while, investigating Lugia and working behind the scenes. He gave Silver advice on how to defeat Team Rocket in Johto, as well as a Tyranitar (which Silver promptly returned after awakening from his comatose state following the incident at the Lake of Rage). Working through Silver, Lance tried to help defeat the Masked Man. After this was fulfilled, Lance is briefly seen flying on his Aerodactyl watching the horizon during part of Oak's speech on the radio.

In the HeartGold & SoulSilver chapter, Lance called Professor Oak and told him to send one of the Pokédex holders to the Pokéathlon dome so that Lance could give them information on the Legendary Pokémon Arceus. Gold was assigned to investigate on this, but when he got to the Pokéathlon dome, Lance was not there, but Gold was attacked by his Dragonite. Gold eventually finds Lance in the Ruins of Alph, only to learn that Lance was attacked by someone. Lance had told Gold to open his heart to Arceus, and only then will Arceus calm down. Later, as Archer executed his plan to summon Dialga, Palkia and Giratina at the Sinjoh Ruins, Lance appeared alongside Giovanni and Pryce.

Lance reveals that he met his two comrades during the events of Ilex Forest. He heard Pryce's calls for help from the time vortex. Pryce was able to return to the real world during the special night when Celebi descends to its shrine but when that event happened, Giovanni happened to be there. Recognizing Pryce as the man who kidnapped his son years ago, Giovanni attacked Pryce out of rage but Lance puts a halt to the clash, pleading the two men to put aside their differences as there were more important manners at hand. Lance offers Giovanni and Pryce his companionship, despite their complicated histories.

Back at the Sinjoh Ruins, Lance takes on Palkia as he has had experience with controlling space. He orders a Hyper Beam from his Dragonite which Palkia manages to deflect with Spacial Rend. However, thanks to Dragonite's ability to reverse the direction of its attacks, it managed to strike Palkia by surprise.

After taking the battle outside, the three men managed to calm Dialga and Palkia and send Giratina to the Distortion World. When asked by Gold how Lance was bested by a low-life like Petrel, Lance admitted that Petrel managed to faze him by disguising as a former enemy with the powers and birthplace as him. At the end of the chapter, Giovanni entrusts the training of Silver to Lance and Pryce, his two former teachers.

Pokémon

This listing is for Lance's Pokémon in the Pokémon Adventures manga:

On hand

Dragonite was raised as a Dragonair that evolved from a Dratini, which he owned since childhood. It is considered to be Lance's strongest Pokémon, and boasts a hide so thick that it can withstand continued exposure to the heat of lava (and regular attacks are all ineffective).

These Dragonair are Lance's mainly-used ones in his Dragonair army. One of them first appeared in a Surfing Contest as a prize. During the contest, Lance brainwashes the Dragonair and it starts launching Whirlpools at the surfers, bringing them down to the sea. Yellow finds out that Lance was responsible for this and battles his Dragonair and loses. Lance used two of his Dragonair to shield himself from the lava at Mt. Cerise by using bubbles. Yellow is once again in his clutches as they, along with Gyarados were responsible for the shaking of the mountain. The four Dragonair each serve a purpose: the first is used to cross the seas and skies, the second changes the direction of energy blasts, the third is used to control the weather (which is used in Lance's first fight against Yellow), and the fourth is used to combine its attack and fight the opponents. Lance usually uses only the first two when fighting opponents, the third against stronger ones, and all four only a very few times.

Lance loaned his Tyranitar to Silver when it was a Pupitar. Tyranitar made its first official appearance when it was battling Gold and easily defeating Gold's entire team until it got subdued by Togebo's Double-Edge. After battling Lugia at the Whirl Islands, Tyranitar was returned to Lance as Silver was not able to fully control it.

Released

Lugia

Lance summoned Lugia to complete his plans of creating a utopia for Pokémon where humans that abuse Pokémon or destroy their habitats would be no more. However, this plan did not work as Lance was eventually beaten, and the Badge Amplifier energy Lugia had absorbed transferred to the soils of mainland Kanto, where it would spread life instead of bringing about death. As a result, it fled from Lance.

Status unknown

In the Pocket Monsters HGSS Jou's Big Adventure manga

Lance in Jou's Big Adventure

Lance meets Jou when he was witnessing the Red Gyarados go on a rampage in the Lake of Rage. He assists Jou in fighting the Red Gyarados. After finding out that Ariana and Petrel were responsible for the incident in the Lake of Rage, Lance has a Tag Battle with them with Jou as his partner. Lance and Jou manage to defeat them with Dragonite's Twister. Lance is revealed to become the Champion of the Pokémon League and battles Jou. Jou single-handedly defeats him with Totodile. Jou once again battles him in a rematch but this time, with a Feraligatr.

In the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga

Lance in Pokémon Pocket Monsters

Lance appears in Space Havoc!! as a regular Elite Four member. Red meets him while on his trip in outer space. Lance gives Red three tests for him to handle. While Red did well on the first two, Lance managed to get on the space shuttle while Red and the gang was on. After the shuttle got destroyed, Lance flew away on his Dragonite while Clefairy had to deal with an upset Professor Oak. Lance reappeared in The Final Battle!! where he destroyed a village. The villagers ask Red and his Pokémon to defeat Lance. During the match, Clefairy was still no match for his Dragonite, even the weapons that he threw at it. However, when Lance was about to get beaten, Dragonite reveals its story about how he met Lance. However, the story is later found out to be a lie, and Lance ran off with his Dragonite, with Red and his Pokémon chasing him from behind.

Pokémon

Gyarados

Gyarados was the first test that Red and the gang had to handle. It popped out of a pool of water when Lance commanded it to do so. Gyarados was proven to be a challenge when it kept on hiding in the water and used its tail at one point to slap Clefairy. Clefairy tied Red's Pikachu to a fishing line and threw him to the pool of water to find Gyarados. After Pikachu went inside Gyarados's mouth, Pikachu shocked it, defeating Gyarados.

Aerodactyl was the second test that Red and the gang had to handle. It appeared when Red went inside a museum. It slapped Clefairy using its wing which sent him bouncing around. Aerodactyl was very fast as it evaded an attack coming from Clefairy. Clefairy decided to trick Aerodactyl by luring it into a buffet. After Aerodactyl got full, it was unable to fly. One punch coming from Clefairy sent it packing afterwards.

In the TCG

Lance's PokémonCards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format.Cards listed with a silver background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.

Starting in Pokémon Yellow, Lance has red hair, while a card depicting him in Monopoly: Pokémon Edition shows artwork of him with purple hair. This is probably due to the fact that the board game was made before Yellow was released.

Though his type theme is Dragon Pokémon, in Generation II, only three of his Pokémon are actually of the Dragon type; all of them Dragonite. All six of his Pokémon have Flying as their secondary type.

Additionally, the non-Dragon-type Pokémon used by Lance in the main series (Gyarados, Aerodactyl and Charizard) are all part Flying-type, as well as partially or fully resembling dragons.

Lance is the only member of the Johto Elite Four who, on the second time through, still does not have a team of only his type, with Charizard and Gyarados not being Dragon types.

From Generations I to III, all of his Pokémon know Hyper Beam. This was no longer the case from Generation IV onwards, possibly because Hyper Beam was changed to a special move, along with a much larger high-damaging movepool that doesn't have the side-effects of Hyper Beam.

Lance, Koga, Bruno and Caitlin are the only Elite Four members who have appeared in more than one generation (excluding remakes).

Lance is the only member of the Elite Four who has appeared in all generations; he has appeared in Generations I & III as a member of the Elite Four, and in Generations II, IV, and V as a Champion.

Lance's Gyarados, Charizard and Dragonite can appear to level down, if the player decides to battle him and Clair in Dragon's Den before collecting all 16 Badges and the Elite Four upgrading their teams in HeartGold and SoulSilver, as they are level 68 - 75 in the Tag Battle and are level 48 - 50 when re-challenged at the Indigo League.

In the manga, Lance and the Elite Four's motivations are similar to the plans of N and Team Plasma. Both pretend to summon a legendary Pokémon (Lugia or Reshiram and Zekrom respectively) in order to create an utopia for Pokémon.